Information
Waddesdon Manor (National Trust/Rothschild Foundation) houses an important collection of Dutch and Flemish art, assembled by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898) in the late nineteenth century and subsequently enriched with works from other members of the family (including Alice de Rothschild (1847-1922) and Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934)).
The Dutch paintings include Judgement of Paris (1605) by Joachim Wtewael, a ceiling painting by Jacob de Wit, and an Ary Scheffer portrait. However, the paintings are predominantly from the seventeenth century, encompassing works by Aelbert Cuyp, Gerrit Dou (A girl with a basket of fruit at a window (1657)), Jan van der Heyden, Pieter de Hooch (The Game of Skittles (ca. 1665)), Gabriël Metsu, Adriaen van Ostade, Jacob van Ruisdael, Pieter Claesz Soutman (Emerentia van Beresteyn (ca. 1634), Gerard Terborch (The Duet (1675)), Willem II van de Velde, and Philips Wouwerman. A smaller group of Flemish paintings includes Bernard van Orley (Madonna and Child enthroned (ca. 1519), Peter Paul Rubens (The Garden of Love (ca. 1640) and a Kermesse (ca. 1649) by David Teniers II.
Eighteenth-century designs for wall decorations predominate in a small group of Netherlandish drawings. Netherlandish sculpture, most of it in the grounds, includes monumental vases by Jan-Pieter I and Jan-Pieter II van Barscheit, Laurent Delvaux and Artus I Quellinus, figures of Venus and Adonis by Jan van Logteren and a small group of works by Jan-Baptiste Xavery.
Textiles include four large tapestries depicting the months, designed by David II Teniers in the 1670s and woven at Gerard Peemans’ workshop in Brussels (ca. 1680-1700) and a Flemish falconry scene from the late sixteenth century. Other highlights of the decorative arts include a silver cup by Christiaen van Vianen, displayed with a painting by Bartholomeus van der Helst which depicts it, and a nautilus shell by Cornelius Belliken (ca. 1700) with a later mount in the form of a triton (ca. 1810-1830).
The collection at Waddesdon continues to grow, for example with the acquisition in 2016 of Isack van Ostade’s Figures outside an Inn (1647), allocated to the National Trust for Waddesdon by the late Lord (Jacob) Rothschild under the Cultural Gifts Scheme.
Juliet Carey, Senior Curator (July 2024)